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Honeycomb Bread

Fluffy balls of bread stuffed with cream cheese and drizzled in honey, arranged to look like a beehive. SO good, and surprisingly easy!
Course Appetizer
Cuisine Middle Eastern
Diet Halal, Vegetarian
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Resting Time 2 hours
Servings 6 people
Calories 337kcal

Ingredients

For the tangzhong (starter)

  • 3 tablespoon water 43g
  • 3 tablespoon whole milk 43g
  • 2 tablespoon all purpose or bread flour 14g

For the dough:

  • 2 1/2 cups all purpose or bread flour 300g
  • 1/4 cup sugar 50g
  • 1 teaspoon salt 5g
  • 1 tablespoon instant yeast
  • 1/2 cup whole milk 113g
  • 1 egg
  • 4 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted 57g

To stuff and assemble the bread:

  • 4 oz cream cheese- cubes or spreadable 120g
  • 1 egg mixed with 1 tablespoon water for the egg wash
  • sprinkle sesame seeds
  • sprinkle nigella seeds
  • honey for drizzling after baking

Instructions

Make the tangzhong:

  • Combine all the ingredients for the tangzhong together in a small saucepan, and heat on low heat, whisking constantly for 3-5 minutes until thick and glue like, and clinging to the whisk. Transfer to a small bowl or measuring cup and let cool to room temperature.

Make the dough:

  • Add all the dough ingredients, along with the tangzhong to a bowl and either knead by hand or mix on medium low speed on a stand mixer until a smooth elastic dough forms, that can be shaped into a ball. Mine took about 3-4 minutes in the mixer.
  • Shape the dough into a ball, and transfer to a lightly greased bowl. Cover loosely with a kitchen towel, and let rise in a warm place for about 60-90 minutes until puffy. If you poke the dough, your finger should leave indentations that won't fill back up.
  • Gently deflate the dough, then divide into 14 equal sized balls, mine were 43 grams each. Pat each dough ball to flatten it out, then place a small square or scoop of cream cheese in the center. Wrap the dough around the cream cheese, and place seam side down in a lightly greased 9 inch circle cake pan or springform pan. Repeat with all the remaining dough balls and cream cheese. Watch the video to see how I arranged them.
  • Cover again loosely with a kitchen towel and rest again for 40-50 minutes until puffy. Midway through this second rise, you can heat the oven to 350F (180C).
  • After the doughs are puffy and expanded, brush thoroughly with the egg wash and sprinkle with sesame seeds and nigella seeds. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until deep golden brown on top.
  • Enjoy warm or room temperature, drizzled with honey. So good!

Notes

Bread dough barely adapted from King Arthur Flour's  Japanese Milk Bread Rolls
I used regular flour in this recipe, you can also use bread flour like the original recipe.
Feel free to stuff these with anything you like! Goat cheese, ricotta, nutella, halloumi, feta cheese, zaatar, anything would be amazing!

Nutrition

Calories: 337kcal | Carbohydrates: 53g | Protein: 10g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 2g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 28mg | Sodium: 593mg | Potassium: 162mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 291IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 112mg | Iron: 3mg